If you thought the slowdown in corporate performance over the past few quarters would temper India Incs urge to splurge at the top B-school campuses, think again. The eagerness of companies to

Upbeat placement season

Business Standard

The government wants to intercept e-mails on mobiles in the interest of the countrys security. The intention seems to be good, but only on paper. For, a blanket power to intercept emails will

The Blackberry muddle

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for January 2008, released yesterday, suggests that the industrial slowdown has really taken hold. The index grew by a paltry 5.3 per cent over January 2007,

Slowdown takes hold

The Cabinet decision last week to bring the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2008, before Parliament is a step that should have been taken at least six years ago. For, it was in 2002 that the

A law for forestry

The rapid developments last week that saw Bear Stearns being acquired by JP Morgan Chase, with the substantial backing of the US Federal Reserve at a rock-bottom price of $2 per share, has opened up a

Denting confidence again

A couple of years ago, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) stopped posting on the internet the departments annual audit report on defence. That came after the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) lost

Overseeing defence spending

The suddenness and ferocity of the Tibetan protest against Chinese rule has taken everyone by surprise. The official Tibetan explanation is that March 10 being a Martyrs Day, there is nothing

Unrest in Tibet

The revelation that over 85 per cent of cancer drug applications filed in the patent office are from multinationals, albeit significant in itself, need not be viewed as an adverse reflection on the

Cancer patents

Most customers of private telecom firms across the country probably will not have noticed that 0.75 per cent of their monthly bill is passed on, largely to the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam, in the

Dialling fair play

Power sector stocks have recently emerged as market favourites, evoking memories of the information technology and pharmaceutical booms of a few years ago and the real estate sector more recently.

Betting on power reforms

The countrys intellectual property protection regime has seldom been sans controversy, despite amendment of the Patent Act in 2005 to broadly align it with global norms. The latest salvo has been

Patent problems

The November 2007 numbers for the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), released last Friday, came in far below expectations. From July, the index has followed a see-saw pattern, growing rather slowly

Erratic growth pattern

The Supreme Courts concurrence with the recommendation of a committee to more than double the cut-off income limit for households deemed to be below the poverty line (BPL), for the purpose of

Radical suggestion

Some forward strides appear to have been made during the Prime Ministers talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, in Beijing. The two leaders have signed a document, called A Shared Vision

Unexpected gains

Revenue collections by the central government have been so buoyant this year that people have already begun talking about reducing tax rates. The possibility of lower rates being announced in the

No time to cut rates

Squabbles between Pakistan and India over trade-related issues are multiplying. The latest to erupt is over intellectual property protection for the prized pashmina wool and the products made from it,

Whose pashmina?

With news about the state of the US economy getting worse by the day, virtually nobody is now betting on it being able to avoid a recession. Accordingly, the Bush administration last week announced a

Failed initiative?

The US Federal Reserve Boards unscheduled decision to cut its benchmark federal funds rate by a huge 75 basis points on Tuesday morning has been greeted by opinions ranging from relief to derision.

Surprise decision

As the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prepares for tomorrows announcement on its quarterly monetary and credit policy, the dramatic events of last week must surely weigh on Governor Venugopal Reddys

Need pre-emptive action

The history of financial regulation shows such regulation is rooted in crisis. Significant regulatory change usually takes place in response to the perceived inability of the previous regime to

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